


God Only Knows (what I'd be without you)

by DaniGetYourGun (SharkbaitHooHaHa)



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Aziraphale and Crowley Through The Ages (Good Omens), Kinda, M/M, Soulmates, many universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-02 21:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20252068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkbaitHooHaHa/pseuds/DaniGetYourGun
Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley don't meet in Eden.But they do meet. There are so few things in this world that are certain, but their presence in each other's lives is. In any possible way, in any possible place, in any possible universe, they meet.A collection of first meetings.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic was pretty much inspired by me listening to God Only Knows by The Beach Boys on repeat. I found [this wonderful version on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLTe8h0-jo) and just couldn't stop, and before I knew it I was writing this. I hope you all like it! :)

_If you should ever leave me_  
_Though life would still go on, believe me_  
_The world could show nothing to me_  
_So what good would living do me?_  
** _God only knows what I'd be without you_**

-"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys

* * *

The story, as you know, began with a garden. Not the story with the apple, though that one owes its beginning to that place, as well. 

No, this story picks up right after, when the Serpent of Eden slithered up next to the Angel of the Eastern Gate. Two beings, both so different, yet alike in just as many ways; each the morally gray sheep of their respective sides. 

To say that they instantly took a liking to one another wouldn't be an overstatement, though you'd be hard-pressed to get either one of them to admit it. But, deny it as they might, they got on like a bookshop on fire… which is merely a turn of phrase, and (probably) not a grim prophecy regarding the fate of any bookshops you might be familiar with. 

Their meeting was not the most significant thing to happen that day. Not when compared to the banishment of Adam and Eve or the first rainfall. Even so, it was as good a starting point as any. Angel met demon and the rest was history.

...Right?

* * *

High atop the wall surrounding Eden, a lone angel stood staring out at the two figures making their way across the desert sand and asked himself if he’d done the right thing.

Within the garden, its sleek black body draped delicately among the branches of an apple tree, a demon pondered the same question.

It's hard to say why, but their paths did not cross that day. There were no jokes about lead balloons, no confessions of giving away flaming swords, and no feathers spread to provide shelter.

And the first rains began to fall.


	2. Chapter One

This world is unpredictable. Who shoulders the blame for the chaos? The butterfly, whose delicate wings set loose a storm past its comprehension? Or perhaps God, for creating such a creature in the first place?

Was that it? Oh, well, nice try, missed your chance, better luck next go-around? Were these two now set to wander a world that they should have walked together... alone?

Or was theirs a bond that was as inevitable as it was ineffable?

* * *

Skip ahead a few pages to a different story. The story of a flood.

A demon stood on the mountains of Ararat and watched the ark make land. He made a striking figure, his dark robes and long red hair tossed about by the wind while the rest of his body remained perfectly still. 

Or, at least, the angel watching him thought so.

Crawley sighed. “What did you say your name was?” If the angel insisted on watching him with that ridiculous wide-eyed gaze, he might as well try to make conversation.

“Ah, I-I didn’t,” the angel stammered, embarrassed to have been caught staring. “But it’s Aziraphale.”

“Mmm. Crawley.”

“Yes, well…” The angel gave him a tiny smile. “Nice weather we’re having?”

Crawley finally turned to look at him then. “Really?” 

“Well, I mean-- I only meant-- I was just--”

“You only meant with it being the first day in about three months without a flooding downpour, yeah?” Crawley turned his attention back to where Noah and his sons had begun leading the animals off the boat. “Bet it made you real happy, yeah, watching them all get punished like that.”

Aziraphale looked horrified. “_No _! Not at all!"

From the corner of his eye, Crawley could see how miserable the angel looked, and had he not been a demon, he might have felt guilty about making such an accusation when he knew from experience that God would do as God pleased, and damn any who got in her way. 

"I was just… trying to make conversation.”

“I guess the rainbow _is _nice,” he begrudgingly conceded after a moment. “A little.” It definitely didn’t mean he felt bad or anything, though.

“Hardly seems like a fair trade off, though, does it?” Aziraphale asked. 

_Oh _?

Deep within him, Crawley felt a spark of something he had thought he had lost in the Fall.

“...No…” he said at last, appraising the angel in a slightly new light. “No, it doesn’t.”

"I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what have you got there in your hand?" Aziraphale gestured to Crawley's hand which was protectively cupped around a fistful of dirt.

"Oh, this?" Crawley uncurled his fingers to reveal a small flower sprouting from the soil. "I dunno," he shrugged one shoulder. "It had just sprouted when the rains started, seemed kinda sad to just let it drown with everything else."

"The rains-- But that was months ago!" Aziraphale looked shocked. "Have you been holding it all this time?"

"I just haven't found the right spot for it," Crawley said defensively. 

"Oh, no, no, I just mean-- well, isn't your hand cramping up?"

Crawley sniffed. "A little."

"Well," Aziraphale watched as Noah's grandchildren started exiting the ark. "I'm sure you'll find a lovely little spot for it."

"I just wish I could have done more," Crawley said. He smiled as the children delighted over being on solid ground again. "So much destroyed. But the part I don't get is why the children? They never hurt anyone." Huh. That was strange. Crawley didn't remember Noah's family being quite so large. His sons and their wives must have been very busy on that boat.

Aziraphale shifted awkwardly and pursed his lips. "Well…"

"...What?" Was it really possible to produce this many offspring in just a few months?

"It wasn't technically against the rules," Aziraphale all but whined, and it was his turn to be defensive, wringing his hands together as he prattled on. "God just said Noah's family. It's not my fault she didn't specify whether or not they had to be blood related! It was a rather sizable ark, after all."

The spark flared fully into life.

_Faith _. That's what it was.

"Oh, no, no, definitely not your fault." Crawley couldn't have stopped the smile that spread across his face even if he had tried. 

Aziraphale nodded. "Right? Right! Yes, everything will be fine!"

"Oh, I'm sure," Crawley agreed, despite having no idea one way or the other. "Although, if I may ask, how did you convince Noah?"

"Oh, well, between you and me, it was rather easy after the bit about the boat and the animals."

And the rest was history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Bug me on Tumblr for Updates!](https://acuteangleaziraphale.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter Two

To meet in one timeline is chance.

Two is coincidence.

But, three. Three is a pattern. A promise.

* * *

He had always thought fire to be somewhat beautiful. His sword had flamed, after all.

Fire was the provider of light. Of warmth. Of  _ life _ .

How easy to forget it was a force of destruction as well. 

Aziraphale did not always agree with his orders. But he followed them. Loyal to a fault, that was him. To a  _ fault _ .

It is loyalty that can lead one to destroy that which they love.  _ There must be a reason behind it, surely, _ he thought.

But as he watched the building burn before him, that voice in his head (the same one that led him to give away his beautiful sword) also wondered,  _ How could words be dangerous? _

At least he didn’t have to set the fire himself, though that thought offered little comfort. No, he just had to stand by and watch while the Library of Alexandria turned to ash. Worse, he was to prevent anyone who might try to stop it, to  _ ensure _ the works it housed were destroyed.

He wasn’t even given an explanation. He wasn’t important enough. Need-to-know, they had said, as in Aziraphale ‘didn’t need to know, now, did he? So be a good soldier and see it done.’

So.

He did.

...

Well, he tried.

_ Really _ .

Gave it his best effort.

One hundred and ten percent.

After all, how could he have predicted that a  _ demon _ of all beings would manage to sneak away with some of the scrolls? 

When he first saw the shadowy figure stumbling out of the flames, his (unnecessary) heart had leapt into his throat in panic. He had made sure the building was empty so that no one would be harmed. He had been so sure he had evacuated everyone, so how…

And then he registered the aura.

The demon backed away from him as he approached. His skin and robes were streaked with soot, and in the back of his mind Aziraphale wondered if this was how a demon would look fresh from the fall. 

"Stay back," the demon hissed, his long, thin arms tightening around a stack of scrolls. His eyes were the only part of him that gave away what he was, yellow and thinly slitted as they were, but they weren't the feature that stood out most to Aziraphale.

No.

It was his hair.

Long, wild,  _ red. _ The color of flames.

_ And just as breathtaking. _

"What are you doing?" he asked. Pointless question. It was obvious.

The demon seemed to think so, too, if the look he gave him was any indication. "Thought I'd just check these out, yeah?" he spat. "Would you like to see my library card?"

"Library car-" No, that still wasn't the question he wanted to ask. " _ Why?"  _ That was it.

The demon looked at him then,  _ really _ looked at him, long and hard and Aziraphale felt bare beneath that gaze. Whatever he saw must have been satisfactory, because when the demon answered him he saw  _ honesty _ in those eyes. "Guess I'm just sentimental," he said with a rueful smile. "Gave 'em the apple in the first place, and all, seemed a shame to let all  _ this _ knowledge get destroyed."

Oh, not just any demon, then. It was the  _ Serpent of Eden _ .

A wily creature, to be sure!

It really couldn’t be helped that he hadn’t been able to fulfil his duty to the letter when faced with such an adversary. 

"What will you do with them?"

The demon blinked. "...Dunno. Hadn't really planned anything aside from getting them out. Don't suppose it matters, now, anyway. Since you caught me, and all."

"Caught you? Oh. Oh, right! I caught you!" 

The two stood for a moment, staring awkwardly at each other.

Aziraphale clenched his hands in his robe and turned his gaze to the flames. "...Such a shame you managed to escape."

"...Come again?"

Oh, for the love of- Aziraphale tried again. "You've outsmarted me with your cunning."

"My what-now?"

Aziraphale huffed and glared at the demon, who finally seemed to catch on.

"O-oh! Right! Well, you mustn't be too hard on yourself. I really am quite clever," he boasted.

Aziraphale gave him a flat look.

The demon coughed. "Anyway… Better get going. You know, places to see, people to tempt." And with that, the demon rushed off.

"Make sure you store them properly!" Aziraphale called after him. "Someplace dry!"

And, well, if he and the demon met up every now and then, it was purely for business purposes.

"The scrolls are still safe, I trust?"

"Obviously, Angel. Lunch?"

"Of course, dear boy."

And the rest was history.


	4. Chapter Three

Let's shift focus for just a moment. Let’s talk about starstuff; the building blocks of creation. And let's talk about the time before time began, when everything was nothing.

It’s a strange concept, nothingness. How do you even comprehend such a thing? A void. Emptiness. Or is the very idea of nothingness misleading? Would it be more accurate to call it ‘ _ possibility _ ’? 

And when God shaped this wild, boundless (no?) _ thing _ into everything that would come to be, did it lose the memory of how it used to exist? When it broke apart into the sky and the earth and the sea, did it forget what it felt like to just be one? To be a part of something singular? 

Or were there some pieces that still held the imprint of whatever used to fit beside them? Would they long to be reunited? Not as two incomplete parts of one entity, necessarily, but as two individuals looking for a familiar presence? Seeking out that possibility of what else they could be?

I wonder.

* * *

On a mountain there was a tomb.

A figure hesitated by the entrance, reluctant to go inside.

"Don't bother," said a voice a little bit to his left. "Already checked. 's empty."

Aziraphale turned to find someone was leaning against the outer wall of the tomb. She wore a veil over her fiery red hair, but did little to hide her face, which bore the most striking pair of golden eyes. Even if Aziraphale hadn't been able to identify their serpentine nature, he was able to recognize a demonic aura when he saw one.

"Of course, you would already know that. Being an angel and all." The demon examined Aziraphale with a vague interest. "So, why come to visit a vacant tomb? ...Or a cave, rather."

“A cave?” Aziraphale echoed, feeling rather lost.

“Well, you can’t really call it a tomb if there’s nothing ‘entombed’ within, now, can you? And it’s built into the side of a mountain, so really, it’s just a cave.”

Aziraphale just stared at the demon, unsure if she was actually looking for an answer.

Which, she apparently was, because she defensively added, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice cave. Very fancy, and all that. But,” and she trailed off with a vague sound that she seemed to think was a sufficient conclusion to her point and stared at Aziraphale expectantly.

“I suppose?” Aziraphale agreed after a moment. “If you want to argue semantics.” This was a very odd conversation indeed, and Aziraphale found himself wondering if all demons were this nonsensical, or if this one had just gone a bit odd in the head after spending too much time topside.

Whichever it was, his answer seemed to satisfy the demon and she gave him a sharp nod. “Right. So. Back to the point. Why visit a cave which you know to be empty?”

“I…” Aziraphale frowned. Truth-be-told, he really didn’t know why he came back to Jerusalem. He had set off west immediately following the crucifixion, unable to stand the memory of what had transpired, of what Heaven had made him complacent to. Plus, he didn’t particularly fancy getting congratulated by whichever Archangel stopped by to do the resurrection miracle on a job well done, when the job he had done made him feel sick. 

Yet, here he was, and not even a fortnight had passed. So, he deflected. "Well, it appears I was right to come, seeing as the forces of hell are at play."

The demon scoffed. "What, me?"

"You see any other demons lurking about?"

The demon let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I'm hardly  _ lurking _ . And describing me as 'the forces of hell,' as though I were an army in my own right." She winked at Aziraphale, and his face flushed for reasons he didn't entirely want to contemplate. "Flatterer."

"No-- I'm not-- That wasn't--" 

"Relax," the demon drawled, a slight sparkle to her eye. "Anyway, you needn't concern yourself. I just came to pay my respects. I have, so now I'll be going."

She pushed off against the wall and for a brief moment Aziraphale thought she was going to fall before he realized that was just how she moved-- like a leaf being thrown about by a gentle breeze. She lifted one hand over her shoulder in a wave, and that should have been it, the two would part, never to cross paths again.

"Did you ever meet him?"

The demon stopped and turned around, her eyes displaying surprise before smoothing back to a neutral expression. "...I did. Took him to see all the kingdoms of the world."

"...Why?"

She shrugged and the smirk was back. "Temptation. You know how we demons do."

But, no. That wasn't it. Aziraphale had spent enough time around angels such as Gabriel or Michael to know that goodness didn't always equate kindness. It also seemed that wickedness did not always equate a  _ lack _ of kindness.

"I'm sorry, then." Aziraphale wrung his hands nervously. "For your loss, that is…"

The demon looked at him, a calculating look in her eyes, which shifted into… recognition? "Thanks."

Aziraphale nodded and shifted awkwardly.

"So, then, I'll just be going?" the demon made a vague gesture in the general direction of 'away.'

"Oh!  _ Oh! _ Yes! Yes, of course!" Aziraphale lifted his hand awkwardly in a quick wave. "Goodbye!"

"...Goodbye." the demon turned and began making her way back down the mountain.

Aziraphale was contemplating how long he should wait before making his own way down the mountain to avoid giving the impression that he was following her when a voice startled him.

"Rome!"

"I-I beg your pardon?"

The demon turned to face him again. "There's this emperor, Caligula, they want me to tempt him," she said. 

"...Oh?"

"Figured you'd want to know, seeing as you're an angel and all. That's your job right? Thwarting the… what did you call me? 'The forces of evil?'" The demon smiled at him, and this time the smile was genuine. And somehow so,  _ so  _ familiar. Something inexplicable tightened in his chest and he took an involuntary step forward.

"Right. No. I-I mean yes! Thwarting… would be good." An anxious smile fluttered across his face. "So…"

"So…?"

"Rome, you said?"

"That's right." 

"...I may see you there."

"...See you around, Angel."

And the rest was history.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come bug me about updates on Tumblr!](https://acuteangleaziraphale.tumblr.com/)


End file.
